110127 [Interview] Kyuhyun, “Goodbye, The Three Musketeers”

A fair and lovely face, big eyes that makes his image round, once you see him, you’ll see that he’s a kind Ddadonam (a warm city man)… He does not match the image of country bumpkin D’Artagnan who just arrived in Paris from the countryside. I met Super Junior’s Kyuhyun (real name Cho Kyuhyun, 23) who lived as The Three Musketeers‘ D’Artagnan for a month and half.

The Three Musketeers which started its run on December 15th of last year at Seoul Choongmoo Art Hall will end its run in Seoul on the 30th of this month. I asked him on how he feels about leaving beloved The Three Musketeers which is stained with sweat. He sighed and said, “I guess I have become attached to the musical stage.”

▶The center of Asia Hallyu…flies over the musical stage

Musical The Three Musketeers is the adaptation of a novel (1844) of the same name written by a French author Dumas. The story is set in the reign of Louis XIII. The musical has the same story framework as the novel of swordsman D’Artagnan, the palace guards, Arthos, Portos and Artemis standing up to Cardinal Richelieu’s conspiracy. Many musical stars appear in the musical including Yoo Joonsang, Min Youngki, Kim Jinsoo, Kim Bubrae, Uhm Kijoon, Kim Mooyeol.

Kyuhyun who debuted as a singer with Super Junior in 2005 is a veteran idol whose group has been introduced as “the center of Asia Hallyu” on American news channel CNN. It’s his first time being in a musical.

He has a pure voice color that even famous vocal teacher Park Sunjoo who taught Wheesung and Ivy is envious of. The question was whether his gayo vocalization fit in with musicals.

“It was really burdensome as I never done acting before. Jay hyung did musicals before. Mooyeol hyung is a big star and Kijoon hyung has a great filmography. But sine the character is country bumpkin D’Artagnan who has to give off the feeling of a young man from the countryside, I thought I could grab this character.”

“Musical manias criticized my vocalization that I sing the songs like a gayo. Bad vibration, the goat singing method…. I asked the sunbaes, “what is the singing method for musicals?” They said that there’s no such thing. I heard that there’s no need for D’Artagnan to sing like an opera singer. So, I was encouraged by it. Also, I never learned the singing method of opera that I didn’t try to imitate it. So, I’m singing the song my way.”

▶We are the Three Musketeers, one for all, all for one

The sunbaes in the musical helped rookie Kyuhyun. Kim Bubrae helped Kyuhyun with his movement and Yoo Joonsang talked to him about how to convey the lines while singing. Kim Mooyeol gave him advice on his acting in every practices. Musical The Three Musketeers‘s motto and the title of its highlight song, All for One, One for All was realized.

“The first performance was in mid December and I started practicing in October. From October to end of December, I didn’t practice the musical much. I just practiced the sword scene. I would go there at 10 o’clock and would practice the sword scene until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. After that I would practice the musical for a short time. But as the date of the first performance drew near, I couldn’t participate in the practice because of my other schedule. That was disappointing. I wanted to show more…”

He now is composed enough to do adlibs. When he failed the three musketeers’ entrance exam, he looked at them in wonder, lifted his butt and said, “why did I fail? When it’s this full, why!” It made the audience laugh. He also used Hyunbin’s line in the popular drama Secret Garden, “is this the best you can do? Are you sure?” Kyuhyun is most satisfied with his imitation of Hyunbin.

“SBS Secret Garden is the trend right now. So, when I throw to the audience a fishing line with a rose attached to it, I say Hyunbin’s line. The response is great. Actually, when I first practiced the musical, I said a lot of adlibs and was scolded by the director. He said it’s the baddest habit. Other actors become familar with the script and the characters and as that character, the lines are the character’s adlibs… So, I got permission to use adlibs in the scene in the first half when I’m talking to the three musketeers after dueling them and also in the fishing scene in the second half.”

▶A rich rice man Kyuhyun, and his fans who are cheering for him.

Outside the theater, 2000 kilograms of rice wreaths are displayed as if to confirm Kyuhyun’s popularity. There are also wreaths from overseas fans like Taiwan and Japan.

“I continued to perform overseas including China that I have a lot of fans from overseas. Unfortunately, even though Japanese subtitles are available, there are no other subtitles available that I feel sorry.”

When I asked him to compare his personality to the hot blooded young man D’Artagnan’s, he nodded saying, “he’s similar to me.”

“D’Artagnan is a foolish young man who attacks saying, “what? a country bumpkin? Let’s duel!” The character gets angry at the smallest thing and I have that side of me in my regular life. Now, I’ve become older that it’s gotten better and I try to calm down. Super Junior members and I play mischievous jokes on each other and we just move on afterward. Actually, since I’m the maknae of the team, I tease the hyungs.”

When I asked him about the kiss scene with his love interest Constance, (Dana) the manager looked disapprovingly. Kyuhyun laughed bashfully and said, “we kiss three times but I get kissed by her that it’s less burdensome.”

▶The kiss scene that he can’t do with his eyes open!

“It’s a secret whether or not the lips touch. If I concentrate on the story, I could do it…. Are you asking if I’m not kissing? I saw a lot of reviews saying, “I thought they wouldn’t do it, but I actually saw the lips touch.” In reality, there is a scene where Dana noona kisses me when I’m laying on the floor, the noona said she can’t do it with her eyes open because of the audience. So, since she kisses me with her eyes closed, her lips touch my cheek or my eye.”

When I asked him, “don’t you get nervous when you do a kiss scene?” he said, “I don’t think much when I do it because I’m acting as another person and Dana noona’s also acting as another person. I knew Dana noona since way before so” He added, “I always get nervous that I don’t know where the lips are going to touch. At first, I thought let’s not make a mistake. Now, I’m enjoying acting…”

His ideal type of a girl is, “someone who’s pure, feminine and smiles easily.” He chose DBSK’s Max Changmin from the same management company as a fellow celebrity who he wants to compliment. He explained that he was better in dancing before. But recently, Changmin has progressed greatly in dancing. He said, “I think Changmin practiced a lot. I want to compliment Changmin who’s working hard.”

▶Kyuhyun, his stage is not over yet.

When The Three Musketeers ends, Kyuhyun will be working in China as Super Junior M. The production of the album has already been started, the filming of the music video is finished and the group is currently practicing the choreography. While being in the musical, he went on an Asia tour and did SM Town concerts. Since the end of last year, he’s been working as an MC alongside Leeteuk and Eunhyuk on MBC Every1’s Super Junior’s Foresight.

At the end, he said, “I’ll become Kyuhyun who doesn’t let his fans down.”

“Don’t look at me with bias. Look at me as I am. Oh, also, I guess I got a taste of musicals. When the performance ended, my feelings were overwhelmed thinking that I was still D’Artagnan… Representatives, if there’s another opportunity, I want to do a musical again!”

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“Don’t look at me with bias. Look at me as I am.”
I found this to be amusing because honestly, Kyuhyun is one of the few celebrities I do not idolize and think of as a person.
And I think I just pissed myself with excitement when I read the Super Junior-M new music video is done. I can’t wait for it to come out!